The thing that’s amazing about The Fader magazine is that they have this incredible knack for predicting the next big thing in music. When I got the call to head to Atlanta to shoot Ilovemakonnen, I had never heard of him and upon asking around, nobody I knew had really heard about him either. Just a few months later, he’s huge and I got to be there right at the cusp as it was happening. It’s cool to see the excitement of someone on the very edge of being world famous even if it is veiled behind a cool, nonchalant demeanor. The first time I listened to Makonnen, I hated it. Definitely didn’t get it. But after two days of listening non-stop as we drove around Atlanta and recorded in a bunch of studios, I’m a convert. Not 100%, but I can get down to some Ilovemakonnen. It was pretty amazing to see his process… Basically get reeeeeaaaaally stoned, do some mushrooms, and lay down an ad lib track usually in only one take. Give it a try kids, you could be the next big thing!

While filming a video for Vodka on the Weekend

Makonnen went to visit a band in the suburbs of Atlanta called Sea Ghost. Turns out they were all high school kids making music in the basement of one of their parents houses. Makonnen took it in stride though and recorded an improvised hook for one of their tracks.